Rocket® COBOL

Hello,   We are using Server express 5.1 wp3 and we need to upgrade to wp6 ( hotfix). Do we need to compile and link all of our program after this uprgade ? What is the compatibility between programs compiled with SE 5.1 wp3 and runtime with wp6 ? thanks for your help ! Raphaël RABU

I am trying to interface with a third-party vendor using an XML based interface.  I can successfully create the initial file using NEW-PARSER, WRITE-FILE, and RELEASE-PARSER.  I can also successfully parse a previously created file using the standard op-codes.  However, it is when I attempt to combine the two where I run into problems. Using the same code to create the initial file, I then enter a cycle of sleep and check waiting for an update to come back from the vendor's software.  It appears as if my program is not releasing the file.  When the file gets created, the vendor's program "hangs".  It knows it's got a file to process, but can't because the file isn't free.  As soon as my program reaches a timeout threshold and exits, the vendor's program immediately kicks into gear as it should. I have attached a sample program.  Can anyone help out with this? Thanks.

Hi, I am new in this forum and I am a beginner in MF-Cobol on Linux. I have no exerpiences with the OS linux. I have a question for the comiler directives.Where do I set this compiler directives? Is this a command for a cobol-source or a for the compiler-jcl? I don't find an example for setting the directives in the documentation. Thanks for help Michel

Hi, We are having problems using a standard call to JDBCB Statement.setFetchSize() method, which just hints the driver.The driver should ignore the hint instead of throwing an error, but Relativity returns the Driver Not Capable error.Is it possible for you to fix the driver so when Statement.setFetchSize() is not possible, ignore the hint instead of throwing "Driver Not Capable" error? Regards, Juan Urraburu#Relativity

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 18 January 2011]I was recently asked if it was possible to comment out multiple lines of code quickly?Sure -- just select the code and choose comment/uncomment from Edit->Advanced menu.What if these lines aren’t adjacent in the source code?Here’s a VB macro you can import using the VS Macros IDE or Macros Explorer which might help.It works from the output of the Find in Files results window. So you can search for the code you need to comment out and then run this macro to do the job.Option Strict OffOption Explicit OffImports SystemImports EnvDTEImports EnvDTE80Imports EnvDTE90Imports EnvDTE90aImports EnvDTE100Imports System.DiagnosticsPublic Module CommentOutFinds    ' Run through all the hits in the find results window    ' open each hit and comment it out.    Sub TemporaryMacro()        ' This gets the Find in Files Results Window        Dim findResults

I'm attempting to add multiple panels onto a winform, some of which overlap. I'm finding that the later panels that have been added refuse to appear even though the statement: set Panelx::Visible to TRUE is given What am I doing wrong?  

In our legacy (Net Express 3.1) code we defined our input/output files as follows: SELECT LOGIN ASSIGN TO DISK FROM LocLogin ORGANZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL LOCK MODE IS MANUAL WITH LOCK ON RECORDS  FILE STATUS IS FILE-STATUS ACCESS IS SEQUENTIAL. In moving to Visual COBOL this no longer worked and we were advised to use the External File Mapper (SupportLine Incident #2539016 ). We did and can open files using this setup.  However, I have two issues I need some help with.  Issue #1 is that if there is a file error, I don't have the file path available to report it.  For example, EMLocLogin would be defined in the External Mapper File but it is not available at runtime; so so I need to open the External File Mapper File and read for EMLocLogin to get my file path?  Issue #2, I need to be able to open a report file (output) whose name will be dynamic, that is, it is named for the particular USERID running it, for example C:\\AIRRS\\REPORTS\\JPL0457.

Here's a full transcript from the latest webinar in the Visual COBOL webinar series.If you have any more questions that aren't answered below, please add them as a comment to this thread. Q: Is it possible to do the same thing as shown today in Eclipse but using visual studio?  A: Yes. Visual COBOL’s integration with Eclipse mirrors that found with Visual COBOL for Visual Studio. Although the underlying IDE technologies are different, the capabilities are very similar. For example, within Visual COBOL for Eclipse you can write native COBOL applications, as you do today, but you can also compile COBOL applications to managed code (JVM) taking advantage of additional capabilities. Within Visual COBOL for Visual Studio, you can also write native COBOL applications as you do today, but you also have the ability to compile your COBOL applications to managed code (.NET libraries) providing even further extensibility for your application. This is just one example, there are many others.

  In a .NET WinForm application, a form is simply an instance of the System.Windows.Forms.Form class so it may be manipulated like any other .NET object.When you first create a Windows Form Application a main form named Form1 is automatically added to the project and it is instantiated in the main.cbl program which is the entry point of the project.Other forms can be added by right clicking on the project name in Solution Explorer add selecting Add->New item->Windows Form.     You can then instantiate and manipulate these new forms from your main form.Please download the attachment MultiFormsDemo.zip from this article and unzip it onto your C:\\drive retaining the folder structure in the .zip file.Using Visual COBOL open up the solution C:\\MultiFormsDemo\\MultiFormsDemo\\MultiFormsDemo.sln. Press F5 to run the demo.----------------------------------------- The following is the source code for the main form.       *-----------------------------

Hi, It's possible to use Silverlight in web app with visual cobol ??????

A customer would like to be able to right-click on a data item while debugging and toggle back-and-forth between hex and non-hex displays of the data item value. This can be currently be done in Visual Studio. To see this in Visual Cobol: 1. Open a program for debugging. 2. Step through the program watching the data items. 3. When viewing the values of the data items, right-clicking will not allow you to toggle back-and-forth between the displays for hex and non-hex. This is a suggested feature for the product.#Eclipse

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 03 April 2012]Has anyone successfully P2V'd their Micro Focus server using VMware ESXi 4.1? Everytime we have tried to P2V our server we get the blue screen of death. We are still running physical but want to convert to virtual. Is there a cookbook of instructions for migrating to a virtual server? If no cookbook, can anyone give us a hint as to what we are doing wrong? We shut down the Windows server before migrating but it appears we are missing something in the process.

Original Question: Commenting out code in multiple source files using Visual Studio by Scot Nielsen [Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 18 January 2011] I was recently asked if it was possible to comment out multiple lines of code quickly?Sure -- just select the code and choose comment/uncomment from Edit->Advanced menu.What if these lines aren’t adjacent in the source code?Here’s a VB macro you can import using the VS Macros IDE or Macros Explorer which might help.It works from the output of the Find in Files results window. So you can search for the code you need to comment out and then run this macro to do the job.Option Strict OffOption Explicit OffImports SystemImports EnvDTEImports EnvDTE80Imports EnvDTE90Imports EnvDTE90aImports EnvDTE100Imports System.DiagnosticsPublic Module CommentOutFinds    ' Run through all the hits in the find results window    ' open each hit and comment it out.    Sub TemporaryMacro()      &nbsp

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 04 February 2011]In Visual COBOL R3:Setting a value$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.......set myString to textBox1::Textset Self::Session::Item("VarKey1") to myStringRetrieving a Value:$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.......try    set myString to Self::Session::Item("VarKey1")catch    set LabelStatus::Text to exception-object::Message end-tryNOTE: The Visual COBOL R3 example makes use of a built in exception-object that is automatically generated to catch an exception in a Try-Catch block.In NetExpress for .NET:Setting a Value$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.......set myString to textBox1::"Text"set Self::"Session"::"Item"("VarKey1") to myString Retrieving a Value:$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myStri

Original Question: VISUAL COBOL, .NET and Microsoft Office combined is a great opportunity for a little CRM by Cheesle [Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 04 January 2011] Considering that most COBOL apps store customer contact information one way or another, there should be nice opportunities for some CRM tooling, especially when we know how easy it is to interact with Microsoft Office using dot net in VISUAL COBOL.How about using Microsoft Word in conjunction with your customer database to mail a promo? All automatic of course To use the following source example;* Make sure you have a C drive, and write access to the root of it. Otherwise change all filenames in the source to your preferred destination.* Make sure you have Microsoft Office installed.* Start up Visual COBOL.* Select File | New | Project.* Choose COBOL, Managed, Console Application.* Enter name, Location and Solution name as desired or use the suggested values.* Click Ok.* You should now have gotten the sour

Original Question: How to set and retrieve a session variable for a current Web Form in ASP.NET - A simple example by MichaelB [Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 04 February 2011] In Visual COBOL R3:Setting a value$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.......set myString to textBox1::Textset Self::Session::Item("VarKey1") to myStringRetrieving a Value:$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.......try    set myString to Self::Session::Item("VarKey1")catch    set LabelStatus::Text to exception-object::Message end-tryNOTE: The Visual COBOL R3 example makes use of a built in exception-object that is automatically generated to catch an exception in a Try-Catch block.In NetExpress for .NET:Setting a Value$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.......set myString to textBox1::"Text"set Self::"Session"::"Item"("VarKey1") to myString Retrieving a Value:$ilusing "System.Web"$ilusing "System"01 myString String.01

Original Question: C#/Java COBOL interop made easy with SmartLinkage - please give us your feedback by Paula Willis [Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 19 September 2011] COBOL has one of the most extensive type systems of any programming language. Other languages only support a subset of the types COBOL has to offer, which has made it difficult to access data in existing COBOL applications, without code changes or writing wrapper classes.SmartLinkage is a feature that was added in Visual COBOL R4 as a “Technology Preview”, to offer an instant solution.This makes COBOL linkage data access easy from other managed languages, such as C#, Java, VB, COBOL. We’d like your feedback to help us define the way forward. What would you like to see in terms of usability and functionality?SmartLinkage - what does it do? Prior to R4, if you wanted to call a COBOL program from another language, you had to create wrapper functions to convert the COBOL data items to managed types. SmartLinkag

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 13 October 2011]The third article – on COBOL “standing the test of time” is on the blog, and will go into next month’s In Focus, which you can find here...http://blog.microfocus.com/cobol-standing-the-test-of-time/1254/

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 26 October 2011]Hello, I have found a sticky problem working with Visual COBOL R4, regarding the ACCEPT behavior. When we usually execute an ACCEPT with UPDATE, we see the field contents while editing, but we are not able to see them when we are working with Visual COBOL.I have tried 'Adis Configuration Utility' in order to change that configuration but, unfortunately, with no results at all.Could you please give any clues to deal with this problem?Thank you

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 16 December 2011]A maintenance update to Visual COBOL R4 is now available.Further information on the release is available here.

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 19 January 2012]The Visual COBOL webinar series will be starting next week (Thursday 26th January 2012), with 'understanding the basics'.Highlights include:* Understand more about Visual COBOL* Discover the upgrade path to Visual COBOL* Engage with the product team* Be in with a chance to win Amazon prizesRead the blog for more information and register to attend.

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 20 February 2012]We have created two new Upgrade Guides will be of interest to you if you are upgrading (or thinking of upgrading) to Visual COBOL from an older Micro Focus COBOL development system. The Upgrade Guides, one for upgrading to Visual COBOL for Eclipse and another for Visual COBOL for Visual Studio, highlight the differences between the old and new products, offer solutions on how to keep your applications working in the same way as before, and introduce the new concepts and features of the Integrated Development Environment.The Upgrade Guides are available from the Product Documentation page on the Micro Focus web site. To access them:1. Go to http://supportline.microfocus.com/productdoc.aspx.2. In the three drop-down lists, select Micro Focus Developer - COBOL and Software Developer Tools > Visual COBOL 2010 > R4 Update 2.3. In the Upgrade Guides section, click the PDF icon for the guide you are interested in.We expect

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 07 June 2012]The fourth webinar in the Visual COBOL webinar series, A developer's perspective - Windows & .NET, is now open for registration.WhenThursday June 21 2012 8:00 PDT / 11:00 EDT / 16:00 BST / 17:00 CESTFind out more information and register to attend

How can you add an Excel graph to a DS form to be able to change the values and for the graph to be updated automatically I think there is an option with OLE2 controls but I am not sure how to update the values. Another option would be to use ACTIVEX (I think) Thank You

The important factor is the Excel document is shared. We have inserted data into non-shared docs by defining a range of cells (A:LastCol) and using an insert method including 'movedown' parameter so the effect is to insert a row. The shared document is not allowing this method. We are struggling to find the syntax that equates to 'Insert a row'. e.g. Tied the following (one at a time!):            MODIFY hndWrkSh Range(WS-CELL-RANGE)::Insert(-4121)            MODIFY hndWrkSh Range(ws-row)::Insert(xlPatternDown)            MODIFY hndWrkSh Range("A5:A5")::Insert(xlInsertEntireRows) Can anyone help? David#InsertRowExcelShared